Armed Clashes Subside But Michoacan's Vigilante Crisis Continues James Bargent - InSight Crime
go to original January 17, 2014

Mexico's federal security forces say they have taken control of security in 20 municipalities in troubled Michoacan, but there is little evidence to suggest the self-defense militias are disarming or prepared to stand down.

In seven of the municipalities where federal police and the military have moved in, the municipal police force has been disarmed and sent for "training" in the distant state of Tlaxcala, reported Animal Politico.

After attempts to disarm the militias led to violent clashes with security forces earlier in the week, residents staged protests in support of the vigilantes in the municipality of Nueva Italia, reported Proceso. According to militia leaders, security forces then returned the arms they had confiscated following the confrontations.

On January 14, self-defense force leaders met with Michoacan governor Fausto Vallejo in an attempt to diffuse the tensions. The following day, one of the members of the Council of Citizen Self-Defense Forces, Estanislao Beltran, staged a press conference in which he declared the militias would freeze attempts to "liberate" new municipalities and look for ways to cooperate with the federal forces. However, he added, they would not be disarming.

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